Share This Event

Old Crow Medicine Show started busking on street corners in 1998 New York state and up through Canada, winning audiences along the way with their boundless energy and spirit. They eventually found themselves in Boone, North Carolina where they caught the attention of folk icon Doc Watson while playing in front of a pharmacy. He invited the band to play at his festival, MerleFest, helping to launch their career. Shortly thereafter the band was hired to entertain crowds between shows at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN.

It's been over nineteen years since these humble beginnings. The band has gone on to receive the honor of being inducted as members of the Grand Ole Opry, and have won two Grammy Awards: "Best Folk Album" for Remedy (2014) and "Best Long Form Music Video" for Big Easy Express (2013). Additionally, their classic single, "Wagon Wheel", received the RIAA's Platinum certification in 2013 for selling over 1,000,000 copies.

Old Crow Medicine Show has toured the world playing renowned festivals and venues such as: Bonnaroo, Red Rocks Amphitheater, Cambridge Folk Festival, Coachella, London's Roundhouse, The Ryman Auditorium, The Barclays Center, New Orleans Jazz Fest, The Fox Theater Atlanta, The Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Summerstage in Central Park NYC, Forecastle, the Newport Folk Festival, and several appearances on A Prairie Home Companion. They've toured with artists such as Willie Nelson & Family, Brandi Carlile, Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, John Prine, The Avett Brothers and others.

In 2011 Old Crow found themselves embarking on the historic Railroad Revival Tour with Mumford & Sons, and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. This tour had the bands riding a vintage train from California to New Orleans, playing shows along the way. The magic of this musical excursion across America's vast landscape is captured in the Emmet Malloy directed documentary, Big Easy Express.

Old Crow Medicine Show now have five studio albums to their name, three of which were released by Nettwerk Records - O.C.M.S (2004) and Big Iron World (2006) produced by David Rawlings, and Tennessee Pusher (2008) produced by Don Was. In 2012, ATO Records released the Ted Hutt produced, Carry Me Back, on which they continued to craft classic American roots music. The band's latest album, Remedy (2014), released by ATO Records and also produced by Ted Hutt includes new Old Crow classics like "Sweet Amarillo," "8 Dogs 8 Banjos," and "Brushy Mountain Cojugal Trailer".

In 2017 Old Crow Medicine Show released two albums: Best Of Old Crow Medicine Show (Nettwerk) and 50 Years Of Blonde On Blonde (Columbia Nashville). Best Of is comprised of fan favorites from Old Crows' three Nettwerk released albums, as well as two previously unreleased tracks. 50 Years of Blonde On Blonde is Old Crow's reimagined version of Bob Dylan's classic Blonde On Blonde album. Released via the historic Columbia Records label, it finds Old Crow Medicine Show exploring new territory while paying homage to their biggest influence.

"We grew up listening to Radiohead and the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd," says Griffin Sherry, guitarist/singer in The Ghost Of Paul Revere. "Everyone assumed we were a bluegrass band because we were playing these traditional instruments, but we weren’t writing traditional music. We were just writing songs with the instruments we had."

The result is a sound that the Portland, Maine-based band describes as "holler folk," not because it involves a lot of hollering, per se, but because it invokes the rich communal tradition of field hollers, with their call-and-response melodies, sing-along hooks, and densely layered harmonies. That sense of musical camaraderie is essential to everything The Ghost of Paul Revere does, and nowhere is it more evident than their sophomore album, ''Monarch.'

The album builds on the success of the band's 2014 debut full-length, 'Believe,' and their 2015 EP, 'Field Notes Vol. 1,' which was recorded primarily in a single day at Converse's Rubber Tracks studio in Boston. The session was part of a prize package presented by the iconic Newport Folk Festival, which had invited the band to perform at the storied Rhode Island musical gathering earlier that year as part of a lineup featuring everyone from James Taylor and Jason Isbell to The Lone Bellow and Bela Fleck.

"The Monday before Newport we got a message saying to pack our bags and come on down," remembers Sherry. "We hadn't played much outside of Maine or started opening for any big acts yet at that point, and it was a hugely inspiring moment."

Word began to spread about the rowdy pickers from the north. The Boston Globe raved that they "create the type of music for which festivals are made," while No Depression said they "prove that superior roots music can come from anywhere," and Dispatch Magazine wrote that they possess not only "the chops, but the heart to reach their audience and leave an undeniable impression." Hitting listeners straight in the feelings has been the band's M.O. since its inception in 2011, and they've used their powerful stage show to convert the masses at every stop along their long and winding journey, which has included shared stages with artists like The Avett Brothers, The Travelin' McCourys, Brown Bird, The Revivalists, the Infamous Stringdusters, and more. The band sold out Port City Music Hall, Stone Mountain Arts Center, and the Strand Theater multiple times, won Best In Maine at the New England Music Awards, and capped off 2015 with an electrifying headline performance on New Year's Eve at Portland's State Theatre in front of 1,600 enraptured fans.

When it came time to record, 'Monarch,' though, the band knew they wanted to push the sonic envelope beyond the live-in-the-studio setup that had guided their previous efforts.

"Every other record has just been the three of us in a room with microphones until we got a take we liked," explains Sherry. "We approached this one differently. It was the first time we did a lot of arranging and writing in the studio. We decided we'd worry about learning how to present the songs live after we'd recorded everything instead of the other way around."

"It enabled us to get a lot more adventurous with our ideas," adds bassist/singer Sean McCarthy. "We wanted to do something new and explore where we could take the sound while still staying true to who we are."

The album opens with "Little Bird," a playful, infectious foot -stomper that blends blues and soul and roots and perfectly reflects the communal, inviting nature of the band's music.

Banjo player Max Davis takes over the songwriting and lead vocal duties for "Avalanche," an emotional anthem featuring one of the album's most lush arrangements along with driving drums from special guest Tony McNaboe (Ray LaMontagne, Rustic Overtones), while "King's Road" finds the band expanding their sonic palette to include strings and electric guitar, and "Honey Please" channels 60's R&B and Motown through old-school folk instrumentation. At the core of everything The Ghost of Paul Revere does, though, are their powerful, stop-you-dead-in -your-tracks harmonies. On songs like "Wild Child," "Welcome Home," and "Need Somebody," the band conjures up whole worlds of shimmering sonic beauty in the blending of their voices.

"The album follows this arc where it starts very bright-eyed and optimistic and then hits a turning point where it gets really dark," says Sherry, "like a relationship that starts beautifully and then grows sour. As we started to build the record and expand the sound, it had a place sonically and emotionally.”

By the end of the record, the song cycle reveals that traveling through the darkness is in fact a necessary step for positive growth. 'Monarch' closer "Chrysalides" evokes the imagery of metamorphosis, a transformation that represents rebirth and new beginnings.

"It's about what happens in that moment of metamorphosis and change," says Davis. "I was interested in combining different words into a new term that could capture that feeling, so 'Chrysalides' is a play on chrysalis. This was one of the first times that I allowed myself to bite into and really take advantage of that space in the writing."

If there's one takeaway from 'Monarch,' it's that change is inevitable. Lovers, families, friends, instruments, sounds; they all transform with time. The key to thriving and surviving in a challenging world is to embrace those transformations, to accept them not as endings but as fresh starts. What comes next? Only time can tell. One thing's for sure, though: by opening their hearts and souls with such artistic grace and humility, The Ghost of Paul Revere have created a rich, rewarding, passionate community, one that they can count on to join them for every step of the remarkable journey that lies ahead.

NEW HAVEN CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS

Formed to revitalize and open College Street Music Hall, the NHCPA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation with an educational and outreach mission to build audiences for the performing arts and deepen their engagement. Programs accessible to diverse ages, abilities, ethnic and cultural groups are developed with input from community leaders in art, culture, tourism and education.

NHPCA works with a network of collaborating partners to create awareness of the resources and opportunities at College Street Music Hall. Community engagement and outreach involves New Haven’s performing arts schools as well as organizations large and small across the creative ecosystem. Charitable contributions support NHCPA’s programs and are fully tax-deductible.

Interested in learning more about our performing arts mission and how you can help? Contact the Director of Community Engagement and Outreach at outreach@collegestreetmusichall.com.